Cusack Plays Iraq Widower in Biggest Sundance Sale So Far — Jan 22nd 2007

By Karina Longworth

The much-buzzed Grace is Gone stars John Cusack as Stanley, a conservative, middle-American father of two who has just learned that his soldier wife has been killed in Iraq. Deliberately paced and remarkably tender, the film defies expectations by avoiding political statement in favor of intimate portraiture. In the context of Sundance, a festival known for showcasing polemics, that in itself feels like a revelation.

From Better Off Dead to Being John Malkovich, Cusack has always imbued isolation with a certain romance. Here, too, that ability is put to good use. An Iraq widower is inherently alienated from his surroundings, if for no other reason than because our culture isn't prepared to deal with a man grieving over the loss of his war hero wife. To add insult to injury, we learn that Stanley is a frustrated ex-soldier himself--he fudged an eye exam to get into the service, and was discharged when "they finally gave him a test he couldn't cheat on." Terrified to tell his daughters about their mother's death, and even more terrified at the prospect of life as a single father, Stanley takes the girls on an impromptu road trip. Driving buys him time; he's able to spend entire days with the girls and yet never make eye contact with them. During some sequences Stanley appears to stare directly into the camera, as if silently appealing to some unseen authority for help.

Through his New Crime Productions, Cusack also produced Grace is Gone. His involvement with the project helped James C. Strouse secure funding and locations that would have otherwise been off limits to a first-time director with a $3 million budget. Given Cusack's vocal opposition to the Bush administration, we might have expected a more partisan production. Yet Grace handily transcends such expectations: the death of his wife shatters Stanley's faith in himself, but it does not make him question his support for the war. Rather, at the apex of his grief, Stanley expresses admiration for the fact that his wife "did her duty." The film is short, sweet, slightly sappy, and obstinately apolitical in its treatment of human suffering.

Grace is Gone screened for press and industry here at Sundance late Saturday night. By Sunday midday, the bidding war that had escalated overnight was the talk of the town. Word started to spread Sunday evening that Harvey Weinstein had picked up the picture for several million dollars. And on Monday morning, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the notorious indie maverick had struck a $4 million deal for worldwide rights on the film, making it the biggest deal at Sundance so far this year. According to the article, Fox Searchlight and Sony Classics also expressed interest, but as lead producer on the project, Cusack had the final say over distributors, and the actor's personal relationship with the infamous Weinstein may have given TWC an edge. "We did a few films and they all did well for Harvey; he's been great," Cusack told the trade. "When he's behind a movie, there's none better."

And Weinstein is definitely "behind" Grace is Gone. Having already begun talking up Cusack's performance as Oscar-worthy, he has announced plans to release the picture in late 2007--prime time for award consideration. In Weinstein's words, "It's Cusack's turn."

Perhaps. But as Weinstein prepares his star for a notoriously grueling award-lobbying schedule, it's possible that another film about Iraq will get in the way--one that also stars Cusack. In Brand Hauser, which is slated for release later this year, the actor (and co-writer) plays an assassin assigned to kill a Middle East oil minister. The New York Times recently described Hauser as a "Strangelovian satire about 'war and branding' and the free-market philosophy that, [Cusack] says, saw Iraq as a laboratory experiment." Cusack has often spoken in interviews about alternating personal films with those made for a paycheck; it looks like he's beginning to cover all the ideological bases, too.

Tags: film festival, FilmFestival, grace is gone, GraceIsGone, harvey weinstein, HarveyWeinstein, iraq, john cusack, JohnCusack, politics, sundance, war

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